{"id":21477,"date":"2024-03-21T04:37:19","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T18:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=21477"},"modified":"2024-03-21T04:37:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T18:37:19","slug":"amtrak-begins-major-harrisburg-line-track-renewal-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=21477","title":{"rendered":"Amtrak begins major Harrisburg Line track renewal\u202f"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amtrak<\/a> is investing $122 million in Pennsylvania to improve tracks on the Harrisburg Line, between Lancaster and Harrisburg. This work will improve ride quality and comfort, increase service reliability and complete necessary work required to keep the tracks in a state of good repair.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAmtrak<\/a> is making historic infrastructure investments through projects like this one, which will replace obsolete 1950s-era rail infrastructure which is at the end of its useful life,\u201d said Amtrak<\/a> Executive Vice President of Capital Delivery Laura Mason. \u201cWe\u2019re taking a fresh approach and expediting this important project with a combination of single and full track outages that will improve work efficiencies and reduce the duration of customer impacts.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amtrak<\/a> is accelerating the project to replace this aging rail infrastructure and will complete the work in nearly half the original estimated timeline of two years. To extend the long-term benefits of the project, Amtrak<\/a> will replace the existing wood ties with concrete ties, which have an expected lifespan of 60 years vs. 25 years for traditional wood ties.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

The project began on 15th March and the work will require a series of significant track outages from 8th April \u2013 21st November During that period, Keystone Service<\/em> trains between Lancaster (LNC) and Harrisburg, Pa. (HAR) only will be replaced with buses from approximately 8 a.m. \u2013 4 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. There will also be various schedule adjustments Friday through Sunday and weekday mornings and evenings. Customers should check Amtrak.com<\/a> or the Amtrak<\/a> mobile app for the latest schedules.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amtrak<\/a> Pennsylvanian<\/em> trains that operate between Pittsburgh and New York City will still provide daily midday service through the project area, featuring additional seating capacity. The weekday service cancellations will affect fewer than 450 daily Keystone Service<\/em> customers and substitute transportation (buses) will be provided to mitigate the impact. Overall project completion is expected in late December, after the significant track outage concludes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amtrak<\/a> is working together with state partners at PennDOT to preserve ridership and help ensure the continued success of the partnership. In addition, Amtrak<\/a> is working closely with Norfolk Southern<\/a> and impacted freight shippers to minimise the disruption to their operations during the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Project Benefits<\/strong>\u202f<\/p>\n

This work will help to improve ride quality, increase service reliability and address necessary track maintenance. Specific details include:\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Installing 43 track miles of rail, replacing nearly 100% of rail in this territory
\nInstalling 113,000 concrete ties, each weighing approximately 900 pounds. That\u2019s nearly 51,000 US tons, or the weight of more than 29,000 small SUVs
\nCleaning and refreshing 226,500 feet of gravel track bed, or ballast, to support the track structure and improve drainage<\/p>\n

The project will also help support the local economy with more than 250 employees patronising area businesses, including gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and grocery stores. The concrete ties used are manufactured in Bear, Del., and the ballast for the track structure will be purchased from a quarry in Birdsboro, Pa.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Schedule Adjustments<\/strong>\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beginning 8th April and continuing through 21st of November Keystone Service<\/em> trains will not operate between Harrisburg (HAR) and Lancaster (LNC) from approximately 8 a.m. \u00a0\u00a0\u2013 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday\u202f
\nSubstitute bus service will be provided with four daily round trips<\/p>\n

There will be various schedule adjustments Friday through Sunday and weekday mornings and evenings. Customers should check Amtrak.com<\/a> or the Amtrak mobile app<\/a> for the latest schedules.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0
\nBus customers should plan to add approximately 45 minutes to their normal train trip
\nPennsylvanian<\/em> service will not be affected; customers are encouraged to consider this option
\nFurther updates related to parking will be forthcoming between now and the start of the track outages
\nService will be adjusted with each phase of the project, please check for schedule changes\u202f\u202f
\nOnce the track outage concludes on 21st November, customers may notice minor delays through the area until the project is completed
\nCustomers should always check for up to date train schedules online at https:\/\/www.amtrak.com\/home.html<\/a> or in the Amtrak mobile app<\/a><\/p>\n

Continued Improvements<\/strong>\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Much of the rail infrastructure Amtrak<\/a> operates on across the Northeast Corridor (NEC) was last renewed in the 1970s. This infrastructure is now approaching the time for replacement and modernisation. Historically, Amtrak<\/a> has fully renewed approximately 30 miles of track per year. This project will support the company\u2019s accelerated plan of renewing more than 55 miles of track in the coming year, an increase of nearly 85%.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Amtrak<\/a> enters a new era of rail, the company has made unprecedented investments to improve Northeast Corridor infrastructure. Due to the scope and scale of investment demands, Amtrak<\/a> is implementing new and innovative strategies to promote efficient and productive infrastructure project completion. This includes expanding construction outage schedules in the short term that helps to accelerate work and complete projects faster, while minimising long-term impacts to customers and train service.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

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Amtrak is investing $122 million in Pennsylvania to improve tracks on the Harrisburg Line, between Lancaster and Harrisburg. This work will improve ride quality and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":21425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,47,488],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-opinion","category-rail-news","category-railway-stations"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}